Gaming Netiquette: "Well Played" in Hearthstone.

For those of you who haven't tried Blizzard's new entirely virtual collectible card game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, I would heartily* recommend it. It's one of the few competitive online games which is appealing to all skill levels, handles the free-to-play/monetisation side of things with great care and probably most appealingly, protects you from unwanted abuse from those toddlers out there who like to swear at people on the internet whether they are winning or losing. But that's not to say that Blizzard didn't leave considerable leeway for complete strangers to taunt each other in a subtle but powerful way. 

The most common meanings of this emote.

Emotes are the six word language that each character class in the game possesses. To actually chat with someone the traditional way you need to 'friend' them first so for the most part you will be letting the voice actors do the talking for you. I'm sure that the most widely used emote by far is 'Well played' some common uses of which are listed in the above image. A friendly post-game handshake to indicate that all important "gg" moment is something that polite players should do in almost each and every game they play, if you're losing I'd almost say that acknowledging defeat in this way is tantamount to a post-game handshake anyway. It's just the decent thing to do because it's sportsmanlike and everyone who takes part in gaming should feel like they are having fun, even in defeat...

 ...except this guy.

Three turns in a row he's kept me waiting like this...

For those of you who aren't familiar, my opponent (whose name has been blurred) has lost. 100% Lost. The only way that I could have lost at this point is if I had conceded the game voluntarily. Yet in theoretical defeat, my opponent has decided to leave his keyboard and force me to wait for his turn timers to run down in full before allowing me to actually win, or concede defeat out of sheer impatience. This is sour grapes at it's finest. In a game which is deliberately designed around preventing abusive players from having a negative influence, this player, in spite of well funded opposition, has found a way to stick a thorn in my paw. I feel safe in saying that I did not waste time shaking this player's hand as I whittled his health down to zero. This did not make me feel any happier.

Luckily, someone in Blizzard was watching and decided that I was worthy of compensation. After winning the game I was awarded with enough gold to purchase a booster pack and lo and behold, a legendary card for the Paladin class I was just playing as.

Getting one of these 'orange gem' cards feels incredibly satisfying anyway.

Well played Blizzard, well played indeed.

*The temptation to have the 'hearth-ily' pun in my opening sentence was great, but I thought better of it. I leave it here for the hardcore** readership.

**Footnotes are hardcore. Deal with it.